MIP Technologies and Supelco have launched a molecularly imprinted polymer SupelMIP SPE product for the selective extraction of nitroimidazoles.
The SPE product was developed for confirmation and quantitation of nitroimidazole residues in food samples.
The SPE phase has been developed for multi-residue extraction of nitroimidazoles and has been validated for dimetridazole (DMZ), ipronidazole (IPZ), metronidazole (MNZ), and ronidazole (RNZ) and their hydroxylated metabolites (DMZOH and MNZOH).
Nitroimidazoles comprise of a group of broad-spectrum antibacterial agents with antibiotic and anticoccidial properties, which are widely used for therapeutic treatment in poultry, cattle, and farmed fish.
These drugs and their metabolites are suspected to be found in human carcinogens and mutagens.
Consequently, DMZ, MNZ, and RNZ are on the European Union (EU) list of pharmacologically active substances for which no maximum residue limit can be fixed, meaning their use is forbidden in food-producing animals.
IPZ has never been authorised as a veterinary drug and therefore is also considered a forbidden compound.
Monitoring these substance residues at trace levels is regulated by law.
Using the new SupelMIP SPE product, nitroimidazoles were extracted from milk and egg samples (fresh eggs and egg powder) with high and reproducible recoveries.
The SPE sorbents based on molecularly imprinted polymers were developed by MIP Technologies.
